Originally, there were 22 challengers in City 10. 4 died in the disaster, leaving 18.
Surprisingly, all 18 passed the challenge.
It seems that the disaster, while inflicting pain, also gave them strength.
On Qingshan Cliff, 99 successful challengers sat wearily on the cliff, quietly watching the sunrise over the sea.
Only Chen Zhuoqu and Hu Jingyi were exceptionally energetic, as if they hadn't just climbed a 600-meter cliff, but had flown up.
Opening the Gene Lock meant a different life.
Hu Jingyi honestly explained to everyone: "The Boss said that before climbing the mountain, he used the Breathing Technique to lead everyone into a state, which was the Trial of Heart process. Everyone will see their most painful things in the Trial of Heart. You can't avoid it; only by facing it and looking straight at it can you overcome it."
"What did you see in the Trial of Heart?" Chen Zhuoqu asked.
Zhang Hubao said sadly: "I saw my grandmother resurrected. She told me that as long as I didn't leave, I could continue to live with her. I miss her so much."
Other challengers looked enviously at the two: "So, as long as you pass the Trial of Heart and climb this mountain, you can be promoted? Are you Metahumans now?""Mm," Chen Zhuoqu nodded.
Actually, everyone wasn't surprised that this female top performer could pass the Trial of Heart, after all, this girl had shocked them countless times.
Hu Jingyi, however, was unexpected.
But when everyone thought of Hu Jingyi's persistence, they felt it was reasonable.
Chen Zhuoqu and Hu Jingyi are two extremes; one was born to win, the other always lost, yet they both passed the Trial of Heart.
"What about us?" Zhang Hubao scratched his head: "What should we do if we haven't passed the Trial of Heart? Is there no way to Cultivate?"
"You can also become Metahumans, but you still need to go through seven such life-or-death challenges. Before completely completing the challenge, everyone will remain ordinary," Qing Chen and Shinguji Maki slowly walked out of the woods behind Qingshan Cliff: "Congratulations, everyone, you have become Knights."
Everyone stood up, looking at each other.
Before today, everyone had speculated what the end of this road was, but Qing Chen had never told them the answer.
And now, this answer is worth everyone's efforts over this period.
Knight.
The one who used a cloud of Qi to annihilate millions of Rat Tide in City 10 was a Knight.
The young dean, the new Boss, in front of them, is also a Knight.
All the successful people saw the name of the Inner World god, Ren Xiaosu, on the last meter, also a Knight.
At the beginning of the crossing, He Xiaoxiao's strategy emphasized how powerful a Knight inheritance was.
Excitement flashed in everyone's eyes!
Now they also have this inheritance; all their past efforts have been worthwhile!
"I didn't tell you what this road meant before, I wanted to see how far you could go with your will," Qing Chen said with a smile: "I hope you won't be disappointed after knowing the answer."
"Not disappointed, not at all disappointed," Zhang Hubao's eyes shone: "For this inheritance, it doesn't matter if it's a little harder or more tiring."
Chen Zhuoqu said: "Boss…"
Qing Chen shook his head: "From today on, you can't call me Boss. According to the Knight Order inheritance, I am your Master, Li Shutong is your Grandmaster. Next time you see Grandmaster, remember to ask him for the Forbidden Artifact together…"
He continued with a smile: "In the Knight Order inheritance, in your generation, Li Ke from Li Clan Conglomerate is the eldest senior brother, Hu Xiaoniu from Daybreak is the second senior brother, Shinguji Maki is the third senior sister, Zhang Mengqian is the fourth senior brother, Chen Zhuoqu is the fifth senior sister, and so on, you arrange yourselves according to the order of reaching the top."
It's a bit awkward now.
Everyone looked at Shinguji Maki; this 9-year-old girl is their third senior sister…
Actually, Qing Chen was also a little surprised. Although his ranking prioritized the Trial of Heart, little Zhenji and Zhang Mengqian are different; she also really climbed Qingshan Cliff yesterday!
When Li Tongyun said she would be responsible for training little Zhenji, Qing Chen didn't take it seriously, but now, looking at the scars on little Zhenji, he realized how cruel Li Tongyun's training was. This Guardian hadn't let up at all.
After so long of devilish training, little Zhenji just kept crying and kept practicing.
The Forbidden Artifact AcE-119 tissue box came in handy; little Zhenji and Tongyun kept pulling out tissues to wipe away tears.
Say what you will, she did draw a prophecy: You will see someone get beaten in 7 hours.
Sure enough, 7 hours later, Tongyun got her butt spanked by Jiang Xue.
Little Zhenji was getting stronger and stronger.
Tongyun was also getting stronger and stronger, even Jiang Xue couldn't stop the two girls' adventurous behavior.
You can't tie them up in the dorm, right? In the end, the two little girls could only be left to their own devices.
In Li Tongyun's words, little Zhenji actually found climbing Qingshan Cliff easier than others; she was young, light, but strong and more agile.
Moreover, little Zhenji was smart, she learned things quickly, and she didn't disappoint Tongyun.
However, it's not the most awkward thing for everyone to call a nine-year-old girl "third senior sister."
What's even more awkward is that in Qin Sheng's time, the Knight ranking was at most twelve junior brothers and sisters. It's different now; everyone ranks up and down, and it's often ninety-sixth junior sister, ninety-eighth senior brother, one hundred and second junior brother, which sounds as weird as it is fierce.
It's convenient for Hu Jingyi; anyone can call him junior brother, he was the last one to climb up.
Qing Chen was thinking that when these more than 100 Knights were all grown up, when they went to the Southwest Snowy Mountains again, they could scare the Fire Pit's Grand Elder…
Li Ke, Chen Zhuoqu, Hu Jingyi, Shinguji Maki, and Zhang Mengqian all passed the Trial of Heart, with Demi-God potential, while the other 97 all have A-Class potential.
So, in the best-case scenario, including Qing Chen and Li Shutong, seven Demi-God Knights plus 97 A-Class Knights swept the world, and there are also hundreds of B-Class, thousands of C-Class, and tens of thousands of D-Class Metahumans from the Guardians' Union, Daybreak, Masonic Lodge, and Shadow troops.
Then, forget about Shendai and Koshima; even West Coast Qing Chen will be leveled together.
They can't keep a low profile.
Their strength doesn't allow it.
Of course, this is just the best-case scenario. Qing Chen knew that some of these people would die on the Knight path, which is why everyone must have awe for the Knight path.
At this time, Chen Zhuoqu asked: "Master, did those who failed… die?"
Qing Chen didn't answer directly: "Everyone, remember, every challenge on this path is a nine-out-of-ten chance of death, without any leeway."
Everyone was dejected. They trained together in front of the cliff, ate together, laughed and played together; now, 112 challengers died overnight, showing how cruel this path is.
Someone started crying softly.
Even Chen Zhuoqu, this ruthless top performer, turned her face away and secretly wiped away tears.
Qing Chen didn't stop her; in his opinion, crying for the death of a companion is not a sign of weakness.
Now Qing Chen is calm in the face of everything, but only Ding Dong, who can see through people's hearts, understands how many cuts Qing Chen has suffered along the way.
"Okay, you're about to leave Whale Island; the peaceful Academy life is gone," Qing Chen said.
Chen Zhuoqu asked: "Where are we going?"
"Your second senior brother, Hu Xiaoniu's Hu Family Group, has arrived at Whale Island. They will take you out for training," Qing Chen said: "They have prepared the most professional coaching team, the most professional training grounds, the most professional nutritionists, the most professional sports rehabilitation therapists, the most professional medical team, and four private jets, a world-class yacht, on call 24/7 for you. Next, you will embark on a cruel and mysterious journey until graduation."
Qing Chen continued: "You will train not only in Knight Trials of Life and Death, but also in elective foreign languages, etiquette, assassination, infiltration, toxicology, martial arts, intelligence analysis, and collaborative combat, all trained by the world's top talents. Your second senior brother will also take you around the world to broaden your horizons and teach you about all firearms. It will be a long time, but it won't be too lonely since you're together."
Everyone was stunned; they didn't expect the Knight Order in the Outer World to be so extravagant!
Moreover, this is clearly training them one by one as 007 agents!
This was something Qing Chen and Hu Xiaoniu had planned long ago. These people, with the blessing of Forbidden Zone products, are all F-Class Gene Soldiers, and there will be more fruit blessings in the future.
But if they are still a group of students who can't fight, Qing Chen wouldn't have any use for such a team.
Among A-Class, there are killers like Shendai Yunhe who have fought their way up from the bottom, making people fearful, and very difficult to kill; but there are also Chen Family painters who, outside Forbidden Zone 002, can even have their most important paintings stolen, lacking combat experience to the extreme.
Qing Chen doesn't want these Knights to become like that; these people must be battle-hardened. Hu Dacheng, the chairman of Hu Family Group behind Hu Xiaoniu, also made such a commitment.
Listening to Qing Chen's description, the Knights only felt that a new life had opened up before them; yachts, private jets, combat skills, everything sounds so novel.
Only Chen Zhuoqu asked: "Master, how long is the training period."
Qing Chen replied: "One year."
Chen Zhuoqu thought to herself, training so many subjects in such a short time, it seems that everyone will face devilish training next, how exciting!
The top performer is certainly excited.
As for whether others are happy, she doesn't know.
At this time, Qing Chen saw Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen walking over from below the cliff, waving vigorously at him.
Qing Chen said to the Knights: "Go, start your new life. Climb a mountain, see some snow, chase a dream."
…
…
In the Agricultural Academy, 112 failed people stood dejectedly by the vegetable patch.
When Chen Zhuoqu asked Qing Chen if the failed ones really died, Qing Chen didn't answer directly because none of the failed ones died.
They looked at Little Seven and others working hard, looking at the large swathes of Purple Orchid Star, large swathes of Eternal Heaven Fruit; today is another bountiful harvest day, baskets upon baskets of fruit and Purple Orchid Star are being harvested.
Not far away, Zard and Xiaoyu, like natural strongmen, were each holding a large iron pot in both hands, constantly stir-frying Jingshan Tea.
The scene in the war fortress was magical.
Zard poured out the tea leaves from the two large black pots, then wiped his sweat and smiled: "Why do you all look so sad? What sad things are there, tell us to cheer you up."
Ye Han sighed: "We didn't pass the challenge of Qingshan Cliff, we became failures."
Zard laughed heartily: "What's there to be sad about, there will be more failures in the future."
With a sob, a girl started to cry.
Zard looked at Xiaoyu: "Did I say something wrong? I mean, there are many setbacks in life, just get back up after you fall…"
Xiaoyu thought for a moment: "Zard Gege, that's not what you meant."
It must be said that finding Zard to resolve psychological problems when you're sad is no different from lighting a cigarette to calm your nerves when there's a gas leak; the damage is doubled.
The small door of the war fortress opened, and Qing Chen slowly walked in.
Ye Han leaned over and asked: "Boss, can we challenge again? I accidentally fell just now. Give me another chance, and I'll definitely be able to climb up."
Qing Chen shook his head in front of them: "No, once you fail the challenge but don't die, you will no longer have a true reverence for Qingshan Cliff. Even if you succeed, it won't be of any use. It's a pity, but I'll give you another path, Knight Messengers, Myriad Gods Thunder Technique."
These people fell from the cliff and were finally caught by a large net materialized by Shinguji Maki.
Qing Chen had little Zhenji create mist to prevent those who succeeded from seeing where the failed ones finally fell.
And the sound of everyone falling to the ground was simulated to make those still challenging think that the failed ones really died.
Actually, even if the successful ones knew that the failed ones didn't die, it didn't matter. He just wanted the successful ones to carry more things forward.
To let them know that everything they have obtained is hard-won.
"Not only can you not challenge, but you must live as if you are dead," Qing Chen said: "You cannot contact your past companions, and you cannot let them know that you are still alive. They will move forward with your mission on their backs, and you will stay in the war fortress to Cultivate."
Qing Chen couldn't bear to let these messenger seedlings really fall to their deaths from Qingshan Cliff.
After all, these people have strong minds, and with a little training, they can be put to good use. With Purple Orchid Star Cultivating Myriad Gods Thunder Technique, they are at least B-Class, capable of standing on their own.
If all these people died, it would be a great loss to the Knight Order.
But he couldn't let the other Knights lose their reverence, so he had to hide the fact that these people were still alive.
Qing Chen had Hu Xiaoniu take the Knights away for training, while these messengers remained on Whale Island to farm and Cultivate.
Ye Han suddenly asked: "Boss, when can we see them again?"
Qing Chen replied: "When they become true Knights, or when you can become their Guardians."
Speaking of which, he looked at the vegetable patch: "Little Seven, come and help them get familiar with all the farming procedures as soon as possible. You are all the same, farm during the day and Cultivate here at night!"
All the forces under Qing Chen's command must enter a period of rapid development; everyone must race against time.
…
…
Countdown 134:00:00.
There is a large library on Whale Island where Time Travelers are quietly studying.
Everyone is very cultured; even when they get up to leave, they try not to make noise that disturbs others.
But today there is something unexpected; a commotion gradually comes from the entrance of the library, making the Time Travelers inside frown.
Someone whispered: "Have some manners, making such a loud noise in the library?"
The next second, the speaker saw Qing Chen and Luo Wanya walk in, and immediately lost their composure: "Young Dean! Young Dean! Young Dean, can you sign my name?"
Qing Chen looked at the Time Travelers surrounding him and calmly explained: "Everyone, go back to your seats. No, we are here to look up information and study, just like you."
His words were like magic; the Time Travelers hurried back to their seats, afraid that the Young Dean would think they lacked manners.
Qing Chen picked ten whole books from the shelves before sitting down. He and Luo Wanya came to recharge because they had to manage City 10.
Qing Chen used to read widely, useful or not, he would write it down in the bookstore first. But the books in the bookstore are still too few compared to the library's collection, so he wanted to see if there was any knowledge he could learn from in the books.
Some Time Travelers secretly looked at Qing Chen, wondering, how long will that take?
Then they quickly saw the Young Dean flipping through the books in his hands like a game, the pages turning like they were blown by the wind.
The Time Travelers were all shocked; is this reading efficiency something a human can achieve?
No one thought Qing Chen was pretending because when planning routes for 99 Time Traveler teams, they had already seen the young dean's terrifying memory.
Life calmed down, and Qing Chen was enriching himself. In another week or two, after he finishes dealing with City 10, he will embark on a new journey to complete the next Trials of Life and Death.
On the other hand, Xiao San was holding his phone, searching for the installment loan app on his phone, going to find each Time Traveler.
He stood outside a dormitory and said solemnly: "This Time Traveler, you previously took out an installment loan for four Eternal Heaven Fruit and four portions of Jingshan Tea, totaling 800 points. Remember, the first installment is due next week, don't be late! If you're late, you'll be punished to do hard labor! And, before you pay off the installment, your high consumption will be restricted in the Academy, you can't go to the private cinema, you can't eat stir-fry, you can't drink beer…"
Restricted high consumption…
The Time Travelers in the dormitory were stunned; the disaster had just passed, and everyone hadn't recovered yet, but they already had heavy debt.
800 points, he has to work hard for at least a month, he can't even have a stir-fry, he can't even have a beer.
Where is the unity against the enemy at the Lower Three District Defense Line?
Where is the Xiao San who encouraged everyone to live?
Why did he suddenly become this landlord's debt-collecting look?
Things have changed so much!
The Time Traveler lamented: "You change your face faster than the Young Dean turns the pages of his book!"
Xiao San checked his accounts and smiled: "It's not that fast."
Time Traveler: "…"
…
5000-word chapter, another chapter before 11 pm tonight
"Above the High Heavens," by Yin Shen Shenyin, has completed old books "Monsters Die When Killed," "Burning Steel Soul." Stable daily update 7000-8000
When the Prison Star Hell takes shape in the starry sky, and the creatures on the Terra Continent are still fighting and killing each other endlessly, Ian feels only bewildered and helpless, with no light in his future, he has to drive alone, intending to reverse the inevitable fate of the destruction of civilization and the dimming of the stars.
Along the way, he also crushed some trash that hindered him from ascending to heaven.